“Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” has undergone a couple of changes since it moved to syndication in 2002 — but none of those nips and tucks compare to the complete Heidi Montag-like overhaul the show is getting for its new season (launching today).

Not only is “Millionaire” 86-ing the Hot Seat, but it’s introducing new lifelines — Jump the Question (self explanatory) and a Shuffle format (explained below) — that aim to reinvigorate the nearly decade old series.

But the smartest thing “Millionaire” ever did was swap OG host Regis Philbin for Meredith Vieira. I chatted with the two time Emmy winning hostess about these changes, her dream contestants and her on-air flirtation, which became one of 2009’s biggest viral videos!

PopWrap: What did you think when these changes were first pitched?

Meredith Vieira: I wasn’t sure at first when they told me. I understood why, philosophically – we were ready shake up the show a little bit, it had gotten very predictable. And part of the thrill of “Millionaire” when it premiered back in 1999 was that it was fresh, so I understood in theory. But I was worried.

PW: When did you come around?

Meredith: When I saw the game played. Then it was a no brainer. It’s the same game but it’s much more unpredictable now than it was before, which I think makes it more fun.

PW: The biggest change is that levels and dollar values of questions are scrambled and hidden up until the $25,000 mark, what does that add in your mind?

Meredith: I think you have to strategize a bit more – it involves greater risk taking because you might be facing the easiest question right off the bat, but it’s worth $25,000. You don’t know what you’re going to get and I think that’s very exciting for the contestants and the audience as well because we’re all anticipating it together.

PW: Next change is the ability to skip questions.

Meredith: There’s a plus and a minus there as well – if you don’t know a question, you can just go right over it, but you do lose the dollar amount attached, so you really don’t know until you decide to jump. Only then we reveal the dollar amount. The cost of that pass can be hard – especially if it happens to be a big money question. But if they don’t know the answer, they could have had to walk away. It’s a tough choice.

PW: And finally, the only change that affects you, the whole show will be filmed standing.Meredith: [laughs] It’s funny because everyone thought I would go to flats now – but I am not. I am 5’ 3” and like the illusion of being 5’ 6” so I’m sticking with the high heels. But we’ve only shot 10 shows so far, I don’t know how it’ll be when we shoot 3 days a week, but they always keep a stool nearby.

PW: What is your schedule like once production kicks in full swing?

Meredith: It’s intense. “Millionaire” films 200 shows over the course of three months, so you’re doing five shows a day, three days a week. The best thing I’ve found is to not look ahead because then I want to crawl into a hole and put a blanket over my head [laughs] and disappear. If I just stay in the moment, it’s fantastic. I wouldn’t have agreed to do another year if I didn’t enjoy it. Given the pressures of the “Today” show, I’d have to really love “Millionaire” – and I do. It’s fun to give away money, it’s the kind of job you leave and feel good about.

PW: Do you have a favorite moment?

Meredith: I supposed if I had to pick one thing, it would be my first millionaire – Kevin Smith. To see this truck driver get the million dollars … I was more excited than him. I swear, there was a moment he looked at me like, “lady, I won this money, not you.” I get very caught up in the moment when the confetti is coming down and the audience is going crazy. There was such a feeling of love in the room.

PW: I thought you might say Naval Pilot Max Shuman.

Meredith: Yea [laughs]. We were just having fun with each other. He was a funny, flirtatious guy and obviously it was my Lucy moment. He’s got an order of protection out on me [laughs]. What I thought was funny is what a big deal it became last year – that was from our first season, but somehow it caught fire last year. The internet brought new life to an old romance.

PW: Celeb weeks are always big attentions getters on “Millionaire” — who would you like to have on?

Meredith: I’d like to have Regis [Philbin] on, turn the tables! It would be fun to have Michelle Obama on … I don’t think she’s going to be free though [laughs]. Maybe a little busy. Al Roker would be fantastic, because he’s got an incredible wealth of trivia in that brain of his, it’s incredible what he retains. He’d be really good at the game.

PW: What about you, do you retain any of the knowledge from asking the questions?

Meredith: No, not at all – I feel stupider because I retain none of it. If I screened a show we filmed last week, I couldn’t answer half the questions and I’ve already seen the answers. My husband thinks I’m an idiot savant. Occasionally we’ll see it on TV and he’ll ask me what the answer is and I never know. It’s like cramming before a big test, it goes in one ear and out the other. Everyone thinks I have the best poker face, but that’s not it — the truth is, I just don’t know.

“Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” kicks off its new season today, click here to find out when the show airs in your area.